lowell george
(April,
13th, 1945 - June, 29th, 1979)
Lowell
George first encountered Frank Zappa, as youngsters, when they appeared on the
Al Jarvis Talent Show on KLAC-TV - George performing on harmonica in a duo with
his brother and Zappa giving a puppet performance. Neither won.
In the mid 1960's George joined The Factory along with school friend Martin Kibbee. In 1966/1967, they made some demos with Zappa as producer. While the other members of The Factory evolved into Fraternity Of Man George joined The Standells as lead vocalist. The Standells had enjoyed some success during 1966 and 1967; appearing in, and providing the theme song for the film Riot On Sunset Strip, but by now were waning and George only stayed with them for a couple of months.
He then joined up with Fraternity Of Man, who now had Elliot Ingber on guitar, and contributed to their second album produced by Tom Wilson.
November
1968, George
was hired by Zappa to replace Ray Collins. He recorded and toured with Zappa and
The Mothers until May 1969.
discography
gto's:
permanent damage (1) (1969, lp, usa, bizarre 73397 - straight sts 1059) - produced by frank zappa / feat.ian underwood, don preston, roy estrada, jc black, frank zappa |
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michele:
saturn rings (1969, lp, usa, ??) - feat. elliot ingber & lowell george |
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8 |
frank
zappa: hot rats
(1969, lp, usa, bizarre) |
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9 |
the
mothers of invention: burnt
weeny sandwich
(1970, lp, usa, bizarre) |
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ivan
ulz: ivan the ice cream man (1970, lp, ??, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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10 |
the
mothers of invention: weasels
ripped my flesh
(1970, lp, usa, bizarre) |
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1 | little
feat: little feat (1971, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george, roy estrada, ry cooder, elliot ingber |
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nolan:
no apologies (1971, lp, usa, lizard) - feat. jimmy carl black, roy estrada, lowell george |
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nolan: nolan (1972, lp, usa, abc records) - feat. jimmy carl black, roy estrada, lowell george |
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barbara
keith: barbara keith |
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barbara
keith: barbara keith (1972, lp, usa, warner bros.) - feat. lowell george |
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2 | little
feat: sailin' shoes (1972, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george, roy estrada |
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harry
nilsson: son of schmilsson (1972, lp, usa, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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van
dyke parks: discover america |
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carly
simon: no secrets (1972, lp, usa, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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kathy
dalton: amazing (1973, lp, usa, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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linda
lewis: fathoms deep (1973, lp, usa, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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john
cale: paris 1919 (1973, lp, usa, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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3 | little
feat: dixie chicken (1973, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george |
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bonnie
raitt: takin' my time |
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barbara keith: barbara keith (1973, lp, usa, reprise) - feat. max bennett, lowell george, jim gordon, sneaky pete kleinow |
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martin
& finley: dazzle 'em with footwork (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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john
sebastian: tarzana kid (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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mike
auldridge: dobro (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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chico
hamilton: the master (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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howdy
moon: howdy moon |
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etta
james: come a little closer (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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4 | little
feat: feats don't fail me now (1974, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george |
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maria
muldaur: waitress in a donut shop |
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bill
wyman: monkey grip (1974, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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the meters:
rejuvenation (1974, lp, usa, reprise) - feat. lowell george |
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linda
lewis: not a little girl anymore (1975, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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5 | little
feat: the last record album (1975, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george |
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linda
ronstadt:
prisoner in disguise |
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james
taylor: gorilla (1975, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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kate mcgarrigle
& anna mcgarrigle: s/t (1975, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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jackson browne:
pretender (1976, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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robert palmer: pressure drop (1976, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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carly
simon: another passenger (1976, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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john
david souther: black rose (1976, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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jimmy
webb: el mirage (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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herb
pedersen: sandman (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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cheryl
dilcher: blue sailor (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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6 | little
feat: time loves a hero (1977, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george |
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valerie
carter:
just a stone's throw away |
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yvonne
elliman: night flight (1978, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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john
hall: john hall (1978, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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randy
richards: randy richards (1978, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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grateful
dead: shakedown street |
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little
feat: waiting for columbus (1978, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george, incl.'don't bogart that joint' (e.ingber, l.wagner) |
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little
feat: down on the farm (1978, lp, usa, warner bros. records) - feat.lowell george |
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mick
taylor: mick taylor (1979, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george |
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lowell george: thanks i'll eat it here (1979, lp, usa, ??) |
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little
feat: hoy-hoy ! (1981, lp, usa, ??) - feat.lowell george, elliot ingber, roy estrada, ry cooder |
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51 | frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.1 (1988, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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john starling:
long time gone (1990, cd, ??, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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steppenwolf:
born to be wild: a retrospective (1991, cd, ??, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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57 |
frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.4 (1991, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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zappa / mothers: our man in nirvana (1991, cd, usa, rhino foo-eee records r2 71022) |
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58 |
frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.5 (1992, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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lowell george & the factory:
lightning-rod man (1993, cd, fr, edsel records) - feat.frank zappa, elliot ingber, roy estrada, ian underwood |
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john cale:
seducing down the door (1994, cd, ??, ??) |
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68 |
frank zappa: mystery disc
(1998, cd, usa, ryko) |
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little
feat: hotcakes & outtakes: 30 years of little feat (2000, cd, ??, ??) |
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little
feat: late night truck stop (2001, 2lp, usa, fruit tree) - feat.lowell george |
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little
feat: raw tomatos volume one (2002, 2cd, usa, hot tomato records) - feat.lowell george & roy estrada |
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little
feat: ripe tomatos volume one (2002, 2cd, usa, hot tomato records) - feat.lowell george & roy estrada |
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tom
jans: eyes of an only child (??, ??, ??, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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judy
mayhan: moments (??, ??, ??, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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lowell
george: walk together, darling (live in ny, june 20th, 1979) (??, ??, ??, ??) - feat. lowell george |
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94 |
frank zappa: finer
moments (2012, cd, usa, zappa records) |
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bonnie raitt & lowell george: ultrasonic
studios (2014, cd, uk, iconography) |
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lowell george: feats first - the life and music of lowell
george (2015, dvd, ??, ??) |
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eugene chadbourne:
13 society (2015, cdr, usa, private release) - incl. 'steal softly through sunshine' (don van vliet), 'willin'' (lowell george) |
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lowell george with linda rondstadt and
friends: live in maryland '74 (2018, cd, uk, roxvox, rvcd2091) = radio show album |
bands playing Lowell George compostions
fool moon: fool moon
(199?,cd, france, kzl 150502) – incl. ‘more trouble comin' every day’
(frank zappa), 'willin'' (lowell george)
random notes
From: unknown
Appeared on the GTO's album, "Permanent Damage"
Formed Little Feat with Roy Estrada.
Played Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) on Akiko Yano (later Mrs Ryuichi Sakamoto)'
debut album.
Passed away in 1979, shortly after his album "Thanks, I'll Eat It
Here" came out.
From: Bill Lantz (lantz@cableaz.com)
Nothing to much to add, except the following interesting bit of trivia:
From: http://www.btinternet.com/~chinacat/magazines/body_littlefeat.html
Lowell and Zappa were childhood rivals; both had appeared on the Al Jarvis
Amateur Hour, Frank with a puppet show, Lowell playing harp with his brother.
They both lost to a girl who tapdanced.
From: unknown
New CD with old stuff (pre-Little Feat) released in 1993 - "Lightning Rod
Man ".
Lightning Rod Man actually features FZ as producer, as well as Ian Underwood and
other Mothers. It was recorded before he joined the MOI by a band called The
Factory.
From: Stephen Thomas Erlewine
As Little Feat was disbanding in late 1978, their lead guitarist/songwriter
Lowell George recorded a solo album, Thanks I'll Eat It Here, that sounded as
loose and funky as the band in their prime. After its release the following
year, he set out on tour to support the album. Sadly, George died of a heart
attack while on the road; he left behind a body of gritty, eclectic, and funky
rock & roll. On the first five Little Feat albums, his songwriting and
instrumental talents are more apparent than on his solo effort, yet that doesn't
detract from the record's pleasures.
From: donquixote (donquixote@black-hole.com)
The Lowell George tribute album, "Rock and Roll Doctor", might be
worth a mention here. Not that he performed, but it is a really great tribute
album.
From: Patrick Neve (splat@darkwing.uoregon.edu)
For some reason I've got Lowell George listed as a guitarist on Hot Rats. Does
anyone know for sure if he appears, and if so, where?
From: Wally Adams (whadams@mpinet.net)
some people swear Lowell George is on that album but he's uncredited in the
liner notes. if you listen closely you can hear his (or possibly somebody
else's) rhythm playing in some songs. my ears have placed him in "The Gumbo
Variations" and "Peaches En Regalia".
From: Biffyshrew@aol.com
This was posted by Ted Alvy a few years ago.
It's from an interview in the March 1975 issue of Zigzag.
LOWELL
GEORGE: I got into The Mothers to replace Ray - an impossible job, because
no-one can replace Ray. He's a
singer par excellence and has a sense of humour that I couldn't hope to get
near. He did amazing things, very very funny things. Well I wound up playing
more guitar than singing.
I was initially hired to be the singer because I guess Frank thought I could
sing, but I really ended up playing more guitar than singing. We wound
up doing a lot more instrumental stuff. I appeared on a couple of albums
although I didn't get credited for the albums I appeared on,
I got credited on other albums, because at that period everything was
sort of in a state of flux that those moments were never
chronicled. No-one ever scribed who did what and when.
I sang on "WPLJ" [a song not (from "Weasels") but on
"Burnt Weeny Sandwich"], and I played on "Hot Rats", and I
sang something else. I wasn't on "Uncle Meat" although my photograph
was. Very strange things occurred at that period. I'm also on the 12-album set
that Frank planned to release. I think I have half a side. I do a border guard
routine. I'm a German border guard interviewing people as they cross the border.
And I think I play one long relatively lame guitar solo, almost half a
side.
One of these days Frank will put that thing out - the Xmas album – that was
when it was supposed to be for awhile. But nobody
will take it. Nobody wants a 12-album set. It'll probably cost 30 bucks
or something, and not many people will want to spend 30 bucks on a 12-album set
of the history of The Mothers Of Invention. What he might do is make it a
limited edition.
From Ted Alvy
December 2004
Frank Zappa dedicated a song to the new members of The
Mothers Of Invention, Lowell and Buzz, during the three hour radio interview
that took place at the KPPC-FM radio studios in the basement of The Pasadena
Presbyterian Church (PPC):
KPPC-FM 106.7 Pasadena, California Thanksgiving Eve 5pm - 8 pm November 27, 1968
when legendary deejay LES CARTER and his guest FRANK ZAPPA play Their Scratchy
45s
filmography
1987 Uncle Meat (as himself)
- additional info: Leo Schelvis